mekean



(No Model.) 2 sheets sheet 1.

s. MQKEAN. SELVAGE SHEDDING DEVICE FOR HAND LOOMS.

No. 400,583. 7 Patented Apr. 2, 1889.

(No Model.) 2 SheetsSheet 2';

HS. MQKE'ANQ SBLVAGE SHEDD-ING DEVICE FOR HAND LOOMS. No. 400,583. Patented Apr. 2, 1889'.

N PEIERS. Pr-mum n mr, Warhinglon, o. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT .EFICE.

HUGH S. MCKEAN, OF ALLEGHENY, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO EDWARD S. WRIGHT,"1RUS'IEE, OF SAME PLACE.

SELVAGE-SHEDDING DEVICE FOR HAND-LOOMS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 400,583, dated April 2, 1889.

Application filed October 25, 1838. Serial No. 239,095. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HUGH S. MoKEAN,a

. resident of Allegheny, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in selvage-Shedding Devices for Hand-Looms; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention relates to looms, and more especially to an apparatus for hand-looms, by which an even, regular, and well-compacted selvage will be formed on the material woven.

In the ordinary hand-loom employed in plain weaving the loom-harness consists of two heddles, said heddles being constructed of an upper and lower lath connected by cords parallel with each other and at regular intervals apart. Inthese cords, midway between the laths, are eyes or loops through which the warp-threads coming from the warp-beam pass, the eyes of one set of cords receiving every alternate warp-thread and the eyes of thejother set the remainder. Suitable treadles are employed for-raising and lowering said heddles and the corresponding warpthreads, so that when one heddle is raised a shed or opening is formed between the warpthreads of the upper heddle and the warpthreads of the lower heddle, through which shed the shuttle carrying the weft-thread is passed, while the reed is then brought forward to compact the weft and the heddles reversed, so that the warp threads formerly above will be lowered, and vice versa, when the shuttle is returned, and this operation continued till the desired length of cloth is woven. In this manner the weft-thread is caused to pass alternately above and below the threads of each of the two sets composing the warp until the work is completed.

It is very important in all classes of weaving that the material woven have a selvage even and regular and one which will not ravel. This is easily obtained where looms are employed in which the loom-harness is composed of two or any even number of heddles, for as the shuttle passes from one side to the other the weft-thread twists alternately around the outside warp-thread of the several sets of warp-threads as the heddles are raised and lowered accordingly. The result will be a selvage closely woven and regular and uniform in appearance; but in weaving with three heddles or any odd number much time and labor are required to produce a material with the same kind of a selvage as where an even number of heddles is employed. Al-- though the result of the first two passes of the shuttle will be the same as in plain weaving with two heddles, yet on the third pass the outside warp threads would not be caught by the shuttle, and it is necessary to pass the shuttle around this outside thread and so tie it down; and to accomplish this the operator has to stop to pick out the proper warpth read of the third heddle, in order to pass the shuttle around it to form the selvage. Unless this is done every third. pass the weft will form a loop which will project out beyond the regularline of the selvage, detractingfrom the strength and as well from the appearance of the material woven.

The object of my invention, therefore, is to provide a means of operating hand-looms with an odd number of heddles, so that a compact, regular, and even selvage will be formed on the material woven without the delay and labor occasioned by the operator having to stop to pick out the proper warp around which the weft is wound.

To these ends my invention consists, generally stated, in two cords or wires mountedon each side of the loom, said cords or wires having eyes thereon through which the two separate outside selvage-threads pass, a handle on the lathe of the loom and connections therefrom for raising and lowering said wires and the selvage-threads passing through them.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, Iwilldescribe the same 9: more fully, referring to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of a loom with my improvement attached, and Fig. 2 is a vertical crosssection looking from the rear of the loom.

Like letters of reference indicate like parts in each of the figures of the drawings.

The ordinary hand-loom, a, usually constructed of wood, has at the rear thereof the zoo warp-beam b, fittedin suitable bearings and adapted to turn thereon, while around said warp-beam. are wound the warp -threads 0, passing from said beam up over the deadbeam d.

Suspended from the top beams, a, of the loom is the loom-harness, consisting of the three heddles e f g, said heddles being composed of the laths e f g, respectively, arranged parallel to each other, and joining the upper and lower laths are the vertical cords e f g arranged at regular intervals from each other, and having at or near their center the eyes or loops 6 f 9 These cords differ in number, according to the width of the matting or other material to be woven. The heddles e f g are suspended from the beams a, the heddle 9 being suspended by means of the belt h, secured to the upper lath of said heddle and passing up over any suitable pulley, a, on the beam a, and down under the upper one of the pulleys h and thence up to the-beam a, to which it is secured. The heddles e and f, joined by any suitable belt or cord, are suspended from the lower one of the pulleys it, while belts or cords 7L2 connect the lower laths of said heddles to the arms i of the foot-treadles i, so that the heddles may be raised or lowered, as desired. The warpthreads 0, coming from the warp-beam b and over the dead-beam (1, pass through the loops e f g alternately, each heddle having its own set of warp-threads, and then through the vertical spaces in the reed j, beyond which the matting is formed and wound around the cloth-beam k. The lathe j is of ordinary construction, and is suitably balanced on the beam at, so that it maybe drawn forward and shoved back by the hand of the operator to drive the weft into place.

In suitable bearings in the beam a, at the top, of the loom andadapted to turn thereon, is a horizontal shaft, 1, and rigidly secured to said shaft are the pulleys Z, while below said shaft Z in the lower part of the loom is a cor responding horizontal shaft, m, turning in suitable bearings in the frame-work of the loom, to which the pulleys m are rigidly secured, said pulleys being in line with the pulleys l above. Around the pulleys Z m pass the belts 71 connected by means of wires or cords u, said wires being stretched taut between the pulleys, so that the belts cannot slip therefrom, while at about the middle of said wires are formed the eyes or loops n, which are in one plane with the eyes 6 f 9 And through said eyes a, on each side of the several sets of warp-threads passing through the heddles e f g, but independent of said heddles, pass the selvage-threads n that is to say, these two selvage-threads are operated not by the heddles, but by the wires n, passing over the pulleys Z and m, so as to form the ordinary loop of the two-thread weaving on the edges of the material woven on a loom in which three heddles are employed.

Attached to the lathe j, near its pivotal point, are the hangers 0, the lathej' being so balanced on the beams a that very little, if any, movement will be given to the hangers 0 when said lathe is drawn forward or shoved back. Mounted on these hangers 0 and journaled in suitable bearings thereon are the pulleys 0, while directly in front of said pulleys, on the shaft Z, are mounted the pulleys p, rigidly secured to said shaft 5, and around said pulleys p pass the belts or cords 19', being securely attached thereto, and then up over the pulleys o and down to the guide-pulleys o suitably attached to the sword 7 of the lathe 7, and thence to the slide-rod r, sliding in a suitable guideway, 'r', in the upper part, W, of the lathe, to which rod r the said belts p are attached, as at 1- A suitable handle or thumbpiece, rfl on the slide-rod r furnishes means for sliding said rod to and fro by the hand of the operator.

In describing the operation of a loom with my invention applied thereto I will do so with reference to a loom employed in'the weaving of cocoa matting, to which my invention is especially applicable. The several sets of warp-threads passing through their respective eyes on the heddles e f g and the selvagethreads passing through the loops n are arranged in the manner hereinbefore described, the said heddles being in alignment with each other and at the same height. The operator from his seat in the front of the loom first raises the heddle e by applying his foot to the proper treadle, and by the same movement the warp-threads passing through the eyes e are also raisechwhile said operator with his hand upon the upper part, 4*, of the lathej' moves, by means of the handle 1", the slide-rod r, moving easily in the guideway T, which operation acts to draw the belt 19, attached to said slide-rod r, in the same direction as said sliderod, and as said belt passes up over the pulley 0 and around the fast pulley p a slight turn will be given to the shaft Z and also to the shaft m through the wires 1t, joining the same. By this movement one pair of the outer selvage-threads, of, passing through to the loops n, will be raised to the height of the warp threads already raised, passing through the eyes e In this manner between the upper set of warp-threads and the lower is formed a shed or opening, through which the shuttle carrying the weft is passed from right to left by one hand of the operator, while with the other hand the operator grasps the upper part, r of the lathe j, and draws the said lathe forward to drive the weft compactly into the body of the cloth, said weft by this operation passing around and under the selvage-thread, passing through the loop a, and also under the set of warp-threads now raised. In pushing back the lathej' to its former position, by simply sliding his hand at the same time in the proper direction it will come in contact with the handle 1", and, in the manner hereinbefore described, will oper ate to reverse the position of the selvagethreads n passing through the loops n. The

, lowered and the heddle g raised, which forms a shed, as before, and this operation is continued' until the desired quantity of matting is woven.

In weaving, as above described, one of the heddles and its respective warp-threads are always raised so that the upper side of the matting will have the twill, thereon, and the operator can tell whether the matting'is being perfectly woven and will be able to see any break in the warp-threads.

In operating the selvage-threads n no time is lost, as the operator in pushing back the lathe has only to slide the handler" in either direction, according to the set of threads to be raised, and as said lathe must be pushed back under any circumstances no extra time and labor are expended.

By my invention I am enabled to produce cocoa matting with an even, regular, and compactselvage, for as the selvage-threads n have a movement independent of the other warp-threads passing through the eyes of the several heddles, and as they are raised and lowered alternately the result on the selvage of the matting will be the same as where two heddles are employed, while the body of the 'mattingwill have the twill and thicknessof an odd number of heddles is employed, so that the selvage formed will be even and regular without the loss of time and labor necessary when the operator has to stop and wind the weft around the outside warp in order to get a uniform selvage, as in the old form of hand-loom. By my invention no extra time and labor are expended in operating the loom, for as the lathe is shoved back the warps forming the selvage are reversed each time by the same movement, and there is nothing to break the continuity of the operation. As the operation of hand-looms is necessarily slow and attended with delay, anything that will accelerate the working of the same is greatly needed.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination, with the lathe, of two wires or cords at each side of the loom for carrying the selvage-threads, a hand-actuated device on the lathe, and connections therefrom to the selvage-thread wires or cords for operating said wires or cords, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

2. In a hand-loom, the combination, with the lathe, of two wires or cords carrying the selvage-threads on each side of the loom, a slide mounted on the upper part of the lathe, and connections from said slide to said wires carryin g the selvage-threads, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

3. In a hand-loom, the combination, with the lathe j, of the wires or cords n for carrying the selvage-threads, the shafts l m, on which 

